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Tenants should “suss out” landlords about decorating, says website

The chief executive of a private rental platform is telling tenants to “suss out” landlords about decorating their property themselves. 

“The freedom you have to redecorate your rented home will vary from tenancy to tenancy. The best thing to do is to have an honest conversation with your landlord and determine what they are or aren’t comfortable with you doing” says Tahir Farooqui, who runs the platform Canopy. 

“Some might welcome you giving the walls a fresh lick of paint if you stick to neutral colours, or installing shelving units like spice racks onto the wall if you need extra storage. It’s important to be honest as a tenant and your landlord should appreciate this communication.”

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The website also says that while being a tenant means that “by and large you must keep the rented property as it was when you moved in”, that “shouldn’t mean that you can’t personalise the space that you call home.”

Farooqui urges tenants to increase the personalisation of their rented property by moving furniture around, using floor coverings to upgrade “decades-old laminate flooring or dull carpets that you wouldn’t dream of ever choosing” and adding artwork to walls. 

 

 

On redecoration, he suggests tenants should “play around with the décor according to the seasons.”

Specifically he says: “With spring drawing in, think about softer colour schemes or pastels, and recreate that with smaller accessories like cushions or table runners. And don’t underestimate the power of bringing the outdoors, in. House plants can bring life to any room, or why not have a go at growing your own herbs.”

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    Landlords would much prefer they paid their rent

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    A lot of people can't be trusted with a paint brush. It requires patience, skill and experience. Allow Tenants to decorate themselves and you'll have to re do it professionally when they leave.

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    That's very true Martin, and they cannot be trusted to buy an appropriate colour either, the times I've had to paint over reds blues and greens.

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    I allow my tenants to redecorate - within reason - and, as they've been there over 10 years now I haven't had to think about professionally redecorating when they leave but it's saved me the hassle of tarting up every so often with tenants in situ

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    Some do a good job others are a disaster. The problem I had was it was already done with anti-mould paint cost £12 per litre to buy, they didn’t tell me they wanted the colour changed but went & bought a 10 little bucket type for £20. / just £2.per litre, so my anti- mould paint wasted, if they are fro Eastern Europe the colour will always be grey. A cold colour to my mind, for them it’s perfect, in any case on the scale of things it’s hardly relevant with so many real issues going on, it would be great if all we had to worry about was a coat of paint..

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